After almost 50 years of rapid growth, what was once "Livingston New Town" has for some time just been known as Livingston.
Livingston was the fourth of the Scottish new towns built to accommodate overspill from Glasgow's highly populated city centre following the Second World War.
Livingston now covers over ten square miles of the River Almond valley to the south of the line of the M8 motorway, and has a population of around 50,000. The key to Livingston's success has been its location just 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 east of Glasgow.
At the heart of Livingston is the Almondvale Shopping Centre. Parts of this date back to the early 1970s, but it has grown steadily since.
As for the name of the town, it was taken from the existing Livingston Village, one of a number of old settlements which add character to their newer neighbours. Livingston actually dates back to the 1100s when a Flemish entrepreneur called De Leving was granted land in the valley. He built a fortified tower, and the settlement that grew up around it became known as Levingstoun and, later, Livingston.
